44 - Prince Ibeh

Texas

NBA Comparison: Dewayne Dedmon

Strengths: Despite playing a limited role his first three seasons has been on the NBA radar for quite some time due to his immense physical gifts ... Standing 6’11’’ in shoes, he sports a massive 7’5.5’’ wingspan and a standing reach of 9’4.5’’. Not only does Ibeh have great size for an NBA big man, not to mention he also weighs in at a well-muscled 260 pounds ... He is a quick leaper, with good lateral quickness, and solid end to end speed ... Even at the NBA level his athleticism is above average ... Prince regularly finished alley oops well above the rim, and has strong hands ... The reigning Big 12 Defensive player of the year, Ibeh showed great timing both guarding the rim, and blocking shots coming over from the help side. He blocked 2.4 shots in just 22.3 minutes in Big 12 play (in which he took over starting duties for the injured Cam Ridley). In addition to the shots he connected on, he altered many more, and he actually did a pretty good job of keeping blocks in play ... Many times his swats would lead to fast break opportunities on the other end for the Longhorns, and when they were launched out of play, there was a clear shift in momentum. His pure athleticism, size, and defensive ability are his main appeal at the next level ... Only a good defensive rebounder, he did a great job of picking up offensive boards for Texas last season. In Big 12 play, he hauled in 2.7 offensive boards per contest which ranked 4th in the conference during league play ... Per 40 minutes, Ibeh would have nabbed 4.8 offensive misses. He’s also young for his class. Despite playing 4 years in college, he won’t turn 22 until June 3rd.

Weaknesses: A massive project.Prince doesn’t have a great natural feel for the game, and although his physical gifts make him an intriguing defensive option, he’s pretty much just an oop target, and garbage man on offense ... Like many athletically gifted big men, he’s a horrid free throw shooter ... In 4 seasons for Texas Ibeh shot just .432% on his career and showed little improvement if any during his time in Austin ... He’s also not very polished on the block which can be evident when he doesn’t have a clear path to the bucket ... He can be prone to missing a bunny over now and then due to a lack of touch ... Not a great defensive rebounder for a player with his gifts, can be caught out of position when fighting for defensive boards ... Ibeh can be foul prone at times, but will also benefit from the more wide open NBA style ...

Overall: Athletic specimens like Prince Ibeh don’t come along every day. He’s an amazing combination of size, length, muscle, and spring ... He has the potential to be a disruptive force on the defensive end on an NBA roster pretty early in his career. He has almost no feel for the game in the ball in his hands, but he’s also a pretty low mistake player on offense because he so rarely gets the ball. Often big athletic guys have more success in the NBA than they did in college, so Prince remains an intriguing option, even knowing he could not stick in the league. Even though he has a long way to go, Ibeh’s natural gifts make him a swing for the fence option in the 2nd round.

Notes: Measured 6’11’’ in shoes, with a 7’5.5’’ wingspan, and a 9’4.5’’ standing reach at the PIT tournament. 2016 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Measured 6'11 (in shoes) 219 lbs, with a 7'4 wingspan at the 2011 LeBron James Skills Academy. Never averaged more than 19 minutes per game for an entire season, but finished 11th all-time in Blocked shots in the Big 12.